


Close Enough

by Lostgoldenrose



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Sozin's Comet, The Last Agni Kai (Avatar), Zuko is almost too late, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 18:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30009393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lostgoldenrose/pseuds/Lostgoldenrose
Summary: Zuko jumped, and reached.His fingers caught the stream much like a child could divert a small piece of a creek. Some was siphoned off, but not all.——————————————-Zuko caught most of Azula’s lightning, Katara caught the rest.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	Close Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Hmmm yes an unasked for one shot filled with angst? You got it!

Katara’s world illuminated with deadly blue.

~

Zuko ran as a million thoughts flit through his head in a fraction of a second. It boiled down to:

_ Not Katara. _

_ I have to protect her. _

_ Please, please not Katara. _

**_Run_ ** _. _

Zuko jumped, and reached. 

His fingers caught the stream much like a child could divert a small piece of a creek. Some was siphoned off, but not all. 

The electricity surged in his chest. His body remembered the Eclipse, Ozai, but it did not remember the pinpricks so sharply. Did not remember such heat coming to boil in his blood. 

Then he crashed to the ground and emptied. 

Had it been any other day the bolt would have been impressive.

But it was not any other day.

Sozin’s Comet promised blood and ash.

~

Katara registered Zuko as he flung himself in the air to protect her. Felt the immediate, gut-wrenching horror as she realized someone else she loved would die for her. 

Because she did love him, didn’t she? She may not have been sure what type of love she felt for him yet. But she did love him. 

Of that, she was certain.

Then everything happened at once. 

That was the only way to describe it, really. The lightning struck her square in the chest and every cell in her body set alight. 

And then crashing, crashing, crashing.

Someone was screaming.

~

Out of his bad eye Zuko saw the bolt slam into Katara and toss her back like a ragdoll. 

Anguish tore from him like something feral. From the very depths of his burning gut.

Thoughts reduced to  _ up, _ and  _ attack _ , and  _ revenge _ . 

~ 

If one were a spectator, one would see how the Fire Prince surged off the ground like a tidal wave, roaring in agony. 

If one were close enough, they would see the spiderweb shatter of his eyes. The way conscious though left him with nothing but a bloodlust older than civilization itself. 

They would have watched as the roar turned to fire, engulfing the Princess and throwing her further off balance. The Fire Prince struck without mercy, without reservation or hesitation. 

The Princess had never seen her brother without mercy, and in her weakest hour, faltered. 

Only once the Princess had been blasted out of sight into the rubble of the courtyard did the Fire Prince drop his hands.

~ 

The red faded from his vision, but did not disappear from the skies. With each breath he exhaled more and more whatever monster he’d become, and within heartbeats he was Zuko. 

Just Zuko.

Weak, and powerless, and too slow to save-

_ Katara. _

Zuko ran so fast that his feet hardly touched the stones. For a moment he wished he’d been born an airbender if only to run faster. 

She was curled in on herself over the grates, body twitching fitfully with the remnants of lightning. 

With trembling hands he pushed at her shoulder, rolling her onto her back as gently as he could. His heart splintered at the sound of pain it pulled from her lips. 

His vision blurred and cleared, and blurred and cleared as tears dripped down his face. He pulled her into his lap, cradling her head in one hand, and holding her close with the other, curling himself around her protectively. 

Pleas and denials slipped from his lips like tears as he surveyed the wreckage just below her collarbone. 

He was hungry, and alone, and afraid. Uncertainty plucked at his core like a laundry line swaying in the breeze, making him dizzy and sick. Uncle lay before him, singed flesh still singing softly from Azula’s flame. 

What was he going to do? What was he going to do? What was he going to do?

He was thirteen, and ashamed, and afraid. A feeling like betrayal slithered in his guts. For his father? Himself? His uncle? His people? 

His face wouldn’t stop burning. 

It wouldn’t ever stop burning.

He was sixteen and heir to the throne, traitor to his country, Hope and Savior of the Fire Nation. His insides felt wrong, and he felt like he was dying as the only person to ever have  _ seen _ him and loved him anyways died in his arms. Every feeling of failure, and fear, and uncertainty, and betrayal multiplied a thousandfold and crashed down on his head. 

He could feel the unnatural heat emanating from her wound.

“....burns.” She uttered, face contorted in pain. 

“Katara?” He begged, “Katara, can you hear me? You have to heal yourself, I can’t-, I-I… please, Katara don’t leave,”

“Too hot,” she breathed, trembling in his arms.

_ Heat _ . 

Zuko prayed to all the gods and put a shaking hand over her chest, and  _ pulled _ . 

The heat came easily from her flesh and through his arm up to his throat. He tilted his head and breathed out steam. 

Beneath him he heard a small sigh of relief.

“Katara?” He rasped, pulling more heat into his palm, “Katara, there’s water right here, please,” he said, pulling more and more heat from the wound. 

Slowly, the lines of pain lessened on her face, and her eyes slit open just a sliver. 

“Water,” she begged.

“It’s here, Katara, it’s right here.” He told her, listening to the water below.

“Water,” she insisted, eyes slipping shut.

Zuko swallowed hard, searching frantically in his surroundings. His gaze fell on a latch in the grate that led down a set of stairs to the sewers. 

“Okay,” he said, “okay,” he pulled even more heat from her wound before taking his hand away to brush the soft hair from her face. “I’m going to get you water,” he whispered, shifting her into his arms, “I just need a second, okay? Just-just hold on, please,” he said, picking her up and hurrying across the grate. 

He blasted the latch off and all but threw the section of the grate open, all while begging Katara to just wait. 

Despite how he burned to run, the stairs were slick beneath his boots, and he did not dare risk dropping her. 

Finally he stepped into the water and sank to sit on the steps, letting Katara submerge almost fully in the bracing stream. His hand moved once again to cradle her head and keep it above water, while he let her body rest lightly on his legs.

“Katara?” He called a little louder over the rushing water, “We’re here, you’ve got water, please wake up.”

His hand hovered over her chest once more, ready to pull more heat from her wound, only to find that she was far too cold. 

“ _ No.” _

Recklessly he pressed a hand to her wound and  _ gave _ . He pulled from his own inner flame and pressed it into her. 

_ Fire is life _ .

He would give his life for hers in a heartbeat. 

Already tried.

Already failed.

He begged himself not to fail again.

“C’mon, Katara please wake up, you have to heal, you have to live.” He said, pressing his forehead to hers. 

For a long, still moment, all that existed was the rush of water, and the soft sniffling sound of his breathing. 

Then, with a gasp, Katara seized beneath him, and the world illuminated brilliant blue. 

Zuko had never loved the color more.

Slowly, her body relaxed and the angry, weeping wound faded to a glossy pink starburst just below the notch of her collar. 

Her eyes cracked open, and blue met gold.

“Thank you, Zuko.” She whispered, barely above the sound of the stream.

Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks,

“I think I should be thanking you.” He replied.

They stayed like that, foreheads pressed together, breathing and reveling in being alive. 

Eventually, Zuko pulled away. 

“Can you move?” He asked gently, arms already moving to more fully encircle her.

She nodded, and together, they made their way back up the stairs and into the courtyard.

The Fire Sages speckled the premises like ants, some already pulling a limp Azula from the rubble. Neither Zuko nor Katara knew if they wanted to ask if she were alive or dead. 

The nearest sage bowed fully. 

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko.” He said in a clear, ringing voice.

In near unison, the rest of the sages turned to Zuko and Katara, and bowed. Their voices rose in something that sounded almost like victory. Almost like relief.

Zuko and Katara walked into the palace, refusing help from anyone else, supporting each other when the one faltered. Zuko led them to the nearest and safest room. Katara locked the door behind them, and the two collapsed into the bed. 

In their hours awaiting news of the Avatar’s victory they held each other, and never, ever let go again.

**Author's Note:**

> Another one of my patented “I Had an Idea and Went Into a Creative Haze, and When I Emerged This was on My Doc and an Hour was Gone” fics. I do hope you enjoyed.  
> Feel free to yell at me in the comments!  
> <3


End file.
